Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Times
(I Corinthians 5:1-8; Luke 6:6-11)
A few years the press noted a strange alliance between the
Church and labor unions in France. Both
opposed the government’s attempt to allow stores to open on Sundays. The cooperation was strange because in France
labor unions have regularly opposed the Church.
The confrontation between Jesus and the Jewish lay leadership in today’s
gospel reflects this opposition.
Jesus wants to heal the man with a withered right hand on the
Sabbath. The scribes and Pharisees note
this and watch if he will work the cure.
They believe that all work, even that of healing the infirmed, is
forbidden on the Sabbath. Jesus,
however, thinks differently. He affirms
that healing is an activity of God who must work 24/7 to keep the world from
falling apart.
The Church has supported the organization of labor at least
since Pope Leo XIII’s monumental encyclical Rerum Novarum. It notes how labor unions defended the rights
of workers to fair wages and safe working conditions. At times, however, the Church and other
fair-minded people have opposed the efforts of “big labor.” For example, the Church cannot support unions
when they promote any so-called right to abortion. Even on some strictly labor issues unions may
pursue measures which benefit relatively few and harm the common good.
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